It Happened In Sun Valley
by DragonShadow
Summary: Not so very long ago...


It Happened In Sun Valley (Re-Mastered)  
  
  
The world looked big in the eyes of a five-year-old girl as she roamed around the hotel room curiously. Wendy Testaburger was very excited to be going skiing for the first time in her life. She could barely stand the wait, the tension crept through her stomach uncomfortably as she watched her parents unpacking their things for the night.  
  
"Mommy, when are we going skying?" She asked in a slightly garbled tongue as she tugged restlessly on her mothers shirt.  
  
"It's skiing Wendy." Her mother replied with a gentle smile. "It's getting pretty late tonight though, I think we're going to have to wait until tomorrow." She said as she looked up at the mostly dark window.  
  
"Aw man..." Wendy kicked at the floor irritably as she turned to wander toward the hotel room door. She heard her mothers voice from somewhere behind her as she reached for the doorknob to turn it open. She pushed it open and wandered out into the wooden-floored hallway. She scratched her head curiously as she took off down one of the halls, looking for somebody who could help her.  
  
She eventually made her way into the spacious main cabin at the head of the lodge. A man in a suit stood behind the desk on one side, keeping an eye out for potential customers. He looked down at her in surprise when she emerged from the hallway looking around curiously.  
  
"Can I help you young miss?" He asked with a small obliging smile as Wendy looked up at him curiously.  
  
"No thank you, I'm going skiying." She told him proudly as she turned toward the main entrance. She wasn't about to let anybody stop her from her objective.  
  
The man gave a chuckle before he ran over to pick her up, keeping her from reaching the door. "Come on, why don't we go ask your mommy first?" He asked with a mirthful smirk as he turned to carry her into he back.  
  
"Rats!" Wendy exclaimed and tried to snap her fingers as she'd seen her parents do so many times. It didn't really work though, so she finally took her thumb and made a popping noise with her mouth to show her displeasure at being taken back to her room.  
  
He took her into the hotel room to hand her over to her parents again. Wendy just stuck her tongue out at him before he finally turned and left, leaving the small family alone again. Her parents resumed their unpacking as before, so she cautiously crept over to go out into the hall again. She didn't head toward the lobby again where that man was probably waiting for her.  
  
Instead she turned the other way... and promptly slammed face first into a little boy about her height. "OW!" They both exclaimed in unison, holding their noses painfully. Wendy frowned as she got a good look at the other boy. He was about her age and was wearing a brown jacket with blue pants. Red gloves covered his hands and a blue hat with a red ball on top covered his hair completely.  
  
"That hurt!" Wendy announced rather loudly, glaring at the boy like he'd just slammed his fist into her nose.  
  
"I'm sorry, I didn't see you." He said, staring back at her curiously.  
  
"Come on Stanley, we still have to unpack!" A woman called from further down the hall.  
  
"Coming mom!" The boy took a few steps toward the voice before turning back to Wendy again. "Bye." He waved slightly before he turned to run down the hall and into one of the rooms in the side. Wendy just stared after him confusedly until her mother grabbed her from behind.  
  
"You get back here young lady. I swear, you're too adventurous for your own good." She muttered as she hauled Wendy back into the hotel room, this time locking the door behind her. She stuck her tongue out at her parents again, but they didn't pay any more attention to her. So she just sat down and grumped while she waited to finally go skiing.  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
Wendy looked out across the pure white snow blanketing the slope with something akin to awe and joy as the sun glinted off of it dully. The sky itself seemed to be lighting up with the light reflecting off the snow and the sound of people laughing and playing in it. Several others kids dotted the area and people of all sizes were whizzing down it at incredible speeds. The sights only made her want to join them more as she watched eagerly.  
  
Her excitement was dashed however by her moms' hand on her shoulder, keeping her from zipping off right that second. "Wait for your father dear." She said calmly, though she rolled her eyes at her husbands air-headedness. He'd run into a work buddy and decided to discuss football scores instead of spending time with his family like he'd come here for.  
  
"Can you come here a minute honey?" He asked before turning back to his friend. Wendy's mom put one hand to her head in exasperation before she walked over to him angrily, her hands on her hips. Their daughter watched them for awhile impatiently until she noticed that she seemed to be getting farther away from them... but she wasn't moving her legs...  
  
She let out a startled scream as she abruptly picked up speed and started barreling down the slope as fast as it was possible for her to go. Her pitch black hair waved in front of her face as she fell, waving her arms in a frenzy just trying to stay upright. Finally she felt herself tip to the side until she fell to the snow roughly, sending up a thick white sheet of it until she rolled to a stop in the middle of the slope.  
  
She groaned as she pushed herself up slowly to her hands and knees. Her skis were gone now, probably flung off during her tumble. "Mom... dad!" She called out quickly, but her voice echoed uselessly around her, vanishing into the distance without a trace of either parent. She pushed herself up to her feet, her knees shaking now with fear and panic. This place was huge, how was she supposed to find them? How were they supposed to find her? It was impossible...  
  
In a few moments two more figures came barreling down the slope... straight toward her. She recognized the figure in front as the boy from the other night. He was being chased down the hill by an older girl who was bending down occasionally to fling a snowball at him.  
  
"Stop Shelly! I don't want to play right now!" The boy shouted desperately just before one snowball slamming into the back of his knee. The leg crumbled quickly, sending him tumbling down the hill just like Wendy had a moment earlier. It took the little girl a few minutes to realize he was going to slam into her, and by then it was too late. They were both sent tumbling through the soft white powder until her back finally slammed into a tree painfully.  
  
"OOOWW!" Wendy screamed painfully as her leg was jarred painfully between the boy and the hard stump. She barely took note of the older girl innocently skiing right past them, trying to act like she hadn't even seen the tumble.  
  
"Oh my God, are you okay?" The boy pushed himself to his hands and knees beside her, eyeing her worriedly. "I didn't hurt you did I?"  
  
"My leg hurts..." She replied painfully as she grabbed at her knee with both hands. There was a steady throbbing pain running through her now, originating from the joint.  
  
"Oh... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!" The boy replied quickly, waving his hands in front of his face.  
  
"I know... Oh..." She grunted as she tried to push herself to her feet, but she promptly slid back down again as another wave of pain came over her. She had tears in her eyes by now, not being used to this at all.  
  
"Do you want me to go get my mom or something? I know she's around here... somewhere..." He asked worriedly.  
  
"No stay here... I don't want to be alone..." She sniffled and wiped her eyes with her sleeve as she looked up at him. "I'm Wendy..."  
  
"I'm Stan." He replied as he sat on the snow in front of her. It was kind of awkward since he still had his skis on, but he managed it somehow. "Are you sure you don't want me to go find somebody?"  
  
No, my mom says if something happens... you should stay where you are until someone finds you." Wendy said. Her voice was shaking from the tumble and her leg was still aching badly. She decided to try to talk about something else. "Who was that mean girl...?"  
  
"Oh, that was just my sister Shelly. She's really mean all the time." Stan replied with a wry smirk.  
  
"I wish I was back home in South Park... I don't want to be here anymore..." Wendy said, frightened.  
  
"Well... come on. We can at least try to get down the slope." Stan said as he pushed himself up to his skis again. He held himself against the tree so he wouldn't slide off without her. She just stared up at him confusedly for a few minutes. "Get on the skis, I can take us down the hill."  
  
"Well... if you're sure it's okay..." Wendy said worriedly as she scooted herself onto the skis. Her leg pulsed painfully every time she moved it, but she managed to get into place without too many tears, though her cheeks were still pretty wet.  
  
"Just hang on." Stan advised her as he let go of the tree. They started sliding down the hill slowly at first, but they quickly picked up speed and started flying over the sheets of snow. Wendy clung to Stan's legs tightly as they picked up even more speed, going much faster than she really liked.  
  
"Can we slow down?" She yelled into the wind so that she would be heard.  
  
"I could if you weren't sitting on me!" Stan replied using the same loud yell. Wendy just stared straight ahead of him, her face slowly draining of color as they were suddenly jerked to the side by a stray wind. They both let out a piercing scream as they plunged into a forest up against the side of the mountain they were on. For a few minutes they managed to avoid the trees, but they finally came crashing to a stop when they slammed into a thick bush. Wendy was thrown clear, but Stan was entangled in it.  
  
Wendy clutched her leg again as it was jarred painfully by the impact of slamming into the snow again. She could hear Stan exclaiming worriedly as he tried to extricate himself from the brambles.  
  
"W... Wendy! Pugh!" He fell face first into the snow once he'd pushed himself out, but in only a few moments he was up and running over to check on her. "Are you alright!? Oh man I'm sorry, I just keep hurting you!"  
  
"My leg..." Wendy whispered shakily as she clutched at it. Tears of pain were streaming down her face, and it was obvious that the cold wasn't helping too much. "It hurts more..."  
  
"What's wrong with it?" Stan asked worriedly.  
  
"How should I know?" Wendy replied crossly. Stan winced and just stared down at her helplessly for a few minutes until he finally started rubbing his hands together for warmth.  
  
"It's cold in this forest..." He noted softly. He looked down at her a moment later to see her shivering even worse than he was. "Come on, let's go look for someplace warm at least." He suggested as he knelt down beside her to help her climb painfully to her feet.  
  
"But... shouldn't we wait here in case our parents come looking for us?" She asked worriedly. She wasn't in the mood to joke around or be especially bossy, her leg was hurting and she was getting colder.  
  
"It won't do us an good if they find us frozen like Popsicles, now come on." He gently put one of her arms over his shoulders and heaved her up with him. She gave a small gasp of pain as she put too much pressure on her hurt leg, but in a few moments they managed to begin moving through the forest at a steady clip, looking for anyplace they could stop and rest without freezing.  
  
They both got very tired very quickly. A combination of the adrenaline leaving their systems, the cold, and the strain of moving with Wendy's leg in this condition really took it out of them. It wasn't too long before the small girls' leg gave out completely and she collapsed to the snow in a huff.  
  
Stan bent down quickly to check on her. When she looked up at him and gave a small nod to say she was okay he looked around the small clearing they'd found themselves in. "I'm getting hungry... I wonder if there's anything to eat around here."  
  
"Food? I don't think there would be anything out here." Wendy replied as she pushed herself with a pained grunt up to the trunk of a nearby tree.  
  
"My mom said there's berries and stuff out here." Stan told her knowledgeably as he started to search the area around Wendy and her tree. She just watched him curiously as he almost looked like he was sniffing the air for some reason. She figured he probably watched too many wilderness movies until he finally found a bush that had some small odd colored berries on it. "Aha!"  
  
"Are you sure those are safe?" Wendy asked curiously as she watched him pluck a few. "What if they're poisonous?"  
  
"One way to find out." Stan replied just before he popped it easily in his mouth. He chewed it slowly and swallowed it in a few moments. Wendy kept a close eye on him until he suddenly threw up on the snow in front of him.  
  
Wendy just couldn't help but giggle at that as she flashed him a smile. "I think that mean we shouldn't eat the berries." She told him lightly as he stumbled over tot he tree, holding his stomach in a very sickly manner. They both rubbed their arms furiously against the chill wind in the air.  
  
After a long while Wendy looked up at the tree tops worriedly with her lower lip trembling slightly. "Why aren't they looking for us..." She asked softly.  
  
"I'm sure they are Wendy, we just have to stay as warm as we can until then." Stan replied, though he didn't sound nearly as sure as Wendy would have liked. She looked over at him curiously as he scooted a bit closer to her in the snow.  
  
"What are you doing?" She asked confusedly.  
  
"My dad said if you ever get stuck in the cold you should stay close to someone, it'll make you warmer." He replied.  
  
"Really? Does that actually work?"  
  
"I don't know." He replied.  
  
"Come here, anything's worth a try." Wendy reached out to pull him a bit closer to her under the tree. In a few moments they were huddled closely together in each others arms. Wendy's head was resting on Stan's shoulder with both of his arms wrapped around her neck while her arms were wrapped around his waist.  
  
"Are you warmer?" Stan asked her.  
  
"A little bit... Should we move closer?" She asked.  
  
"It's still cold... come on..." So they snuggled even closer together than before until they were practically sitting in the same place. Wendy found that he was blessedly warm to be close to, the chill of the wind was counteracted by him somehow. She didn't know and didn't care, she just held onto him for dear life, not wanting the cold or her leg to hurt anymore. For some reason him holding her also helped her leg a little bit... it was probably just her imagination. Still, she liked this.  
  
They just held onto each other firmly against the chill of the wind. Their shared warmth went a long way to helping them relax and stay calm out here until finally they relaxed enough to fall into a restless slumber in each others arms.  
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Wendy was roused from her sleep some time later by a group of voices talking excitedly in front of her. She couldn't place them for a long while, she was still groggy. Finally though she recognized two of the voices as belonging to her parents. She opened her eyes and looked up at them quickly, wiping the sleep from her eyes. Stan was still beside her, though he was already awake and staring at the group of adults who were standing around them worriedly.  
  
"Oh Stanley, I was so worried about you!" A woman Wendy didn't know ran over to grab Stan and pull him into a huge hug. Her own mother ran over to do the same, but she stopped when the young girl gave a sharp gasp of pain and clutched her leg at the sudden movement.  
  
"What's the matter sweety?" Her mother asked with a worried look on her face.  
  
"My leg hurts..." Wendy moaned pathetically and clutched her leg again. Finally her father had to rush over and pick her up gently, though she still grunted a few times when he made her knee bend.  
  
"I was so worried about you!" Stan's mother said tearfully as she hugged him even tighter to her.  
  
"We were so scared, we didn't know where to go but you always said stay still and keep warm so we did." Stan said with a happy smile.  
  
"You did a wonderful job son." His father said as he patted his sons' hat.  
  
"Come on Wendy, we should get a doctor to look at that." Wendy's dad said worriedly as he started to turn away from the others to head down the slope to the lodge.  
  
"No, I don't want to go without Stan!" Wendy exclaimed, reaching behind her dad toward the little boy. The adults just looked at her strangely, like she'd gone nuts but the little boy just climbed down from his parents to walk up to her worriedly.  
  
"Mom, dad, can I go and make sure Wendy's okay?" He asked obediently. His parents stared down at him in surprise for a few minutes, then they exchanged a quick glance. Finally they smiled back down at him understandingly, though they obviously thought their son was growing up way too fast.  
  
"Sure Stan, we can all go, we're heading down to the lodge anyway." His dad replied.  
  
"Yay!" Wendy exclaimed as she climbed down from her dads arms. She practically threw herself at Stan with her one leg, wrapping her arms around him like a teddy bear and holding on for dear life. The little boy stumbled under her weight a bit, but managed to stay on his feet and put his own arms around her to support her so she wouldn't fall.  
  
In a few moments Wendy heard the sound of someone throwing up and felt something running down her back. She frowned as she pushed away from him, trying to look at the back of her jacket to survey the damage.  
  
"Sorry, must be that berry I ate earlier..." Stan scratched his head and smiled apologetically.  
  
"It's okay Stan..." Wendy replied with a small smile.  
  
"Come on kids, we should get going." Wendy's father said as he picked his daughter up again to carry her over to the snowmobile they'd borrowed for the search. Wendy just let herself be carried this time, knowing Stan would be right behind them.  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
"Well if she'd been any more exposed to the elements, it could have been any number of things." The doctor told the worried family that was waiting in Wendy's hotel room to see what was going on. "As it was though... the worst she suffered was a twisted knee. Just let her get her rest and keep her off of her legs for a few days and she should be just fine." He said confidently.  
  
"Oh what a relief! Thank you doctor." Wendy's mother said as she turned to guide him out of the hotel room, still talking worriedly to him about one thing or another.  
  
"I would have died if it wasn't for you Stan..." Wendy said softly, staring at him with awestruck and grateful eyes.  
  
"Well... I was the one who hurt your leg in the first place..." Stan rubbed the back of his neck and blushed nervously at her stare.  
  
"Still... thank you." Wendy reached over to grab his ear and pull him close to she could give him a peck on the cheek. Before he got close enough though he threw up on the sheets on top of her. "EWE!"  
  
"Dang berry! I'm sorry!" Stan said quickly, trying to wipe the stuff off of her.  
  
"It's okay Stan..." She gave him a small dreamy smile as she watched him trying to clean her up. After a few minutes she started helping him, happy enough just to have him here in the same room with her.  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
On the last day of the trip both families had gathered out in front of the cabin to commemorate this day for a long time to come. Wendy's parents and Stan's mom and sister were sitting on benches behind the two five-year-olds themselves while Stan's dad was behind the camera, trying to figure out how to set the timer.   
  
"Okay now everyone smile!" He set the camera and quickly dashed to his wife's side. Just before the camera flashed Wendy snuck one arm around Stans' shoulders and smiled for the camera. The flash came only a moment before Stan threw up again. Aw well, at least he hadn't thrown up on her again.  
  
"Oh... sorry..." Stan mumbled miserably. He'd had this weird flu ever since they'd met, every time she even touched him he threw up on everything.  
  
"It's okay." Wendy chuckled happily and hugged him to her again, making sure to keep his face looking to the side so he would throw up on the snow and not her. She smiled and patted his head as they pulled away from each other, each of them smiling. She didn't mind him throwing up, he was her hero after all.  
  
THE END  
  
  
(Ending theme, It Happened In Sun Valley)  
  
Stan: How do you folks? Let's go for a ride. Get your favorite one to sit by your side. Cuddle up in the sleigh, giddy up Nelly Grey, and away we go.  
  
Wendy: While you listen to the sleigh bells ring, you're yodeling to your baby. You'll feel nice and warm no matter how cold it may be.   
  
Stan: Take a look at little Jack and Jill, they ski down a hill. There's a snow plow turn, look there's a spill. There's a spill on the hill when you're down it's a thrill to get up again.  
  
Wendy and Stan: Everybody outta learn to ski, that's how we first met.   
  
Wendy: We were that Jack and Jill that came down the hill.  
  
Stan: When I looked at you my heart took a spill.   
  
Wendy: Took a spill on a hill.  
  
Stan: It's a thrill-  
  
Stan and Wendy: -that I can't forget. It happened, in Sun Valley. Not so very, long ago.   
  
Stan: There were sun beams in the snow. And a twinkle in your eye.  
  
Wendy: I remember, oh so clearly, that you nearly passed me by.  
  
Stan and Wendy: That it happened in Sun Valley, when you slipped and fell and so did I.  
  
Wendy: Catch me Stan!  
  
Stan: BLECH!  
  
Wendy: EW!  
  
Wendy: Look Stan, I made a snow angel!  
  
Stan: BLECH!  
  
Wendy: EW!  
  
Stan and Wendy: I remember, oh so clearly, that you nearly, passed me by. Then it happened in Sun Valley, when you tripped and fell and so did I.  
  
Stan: Now ever year we go back and then-  
  
Wendy: -we recall that fall and that moment when-  
  
Stan: -we were there on the hill-  
  
Stan and Wendy: So we both take a spill, and we're Jack and Jill, again.  
  
Wendy: Muah!  
  
Stan: BLECH!  
  
Wendy: EW! 


End file.
